I'm the author of "How We Make Stuff Now" and the Co-founder and CEO of The Grommet. We launch innovative products from small businesses.

Twitter Lists…a new flirting tool?

Twitter Lists provide a fascinating way to see view how other people categorize your expertise and interests. For example, people generally put me on startups/marketing/design/CEO lists. And “women” lists. But I noticed the other day that someone I respect enormously put me on a “most attractive/smart” list. It sure got my attention and I was ridiculously flattered–even though the list is quite long and can’t be all that exclusive.

Image from Moloco.com

But it made me think…this Twitter list thing would be a terrific way to get someone’s attention. To let them know you are interested in their thoughts or expertise. In other words, putting someone on a Twitter List could become a new way to “flirt” professionally, or personally. The flattering list I am on fits most definitely in the “professional” category. (I have to be 1000% clear on that important point!) In the professional “flirting” vein, I can imagine courting biz dev prospects this way. Or investors. Or customers. Or future employees. Or partners. (Now I myself can’t actually do that, since I just blew my cover.)

On the “personal flirting” side, I don’t know a single teenager who uses Twitter, but if the high school crowd ever goes there en masse, I am quite sure they could get up to all kinds of list-making hijinks.